


Let the Music Play

by nycz



Category: Maleficent (Disney Movies)
Genre: Crack, Evil Plans, Gen, Nonsense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 22:31:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21187064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nycz/pseuds/nycz
Summary: When her queen tells Gerda her plan to deal with the fairies, Gerda is just a little confused. Does music hurt fairies?Alternative title: The organ playing scene in the church from the sequel but imagine Yakety Sax playing in the background instead because the whole scene is a bunch of dumbass nonsense





	Let the Music Play

**Author's Note:**

> the more I think about that dumbass scene the more it bothers me. why play the organ and not just do a proper ambush? how did anyone survive seeing how long they were in there? why? just _why?_
> 
> also Gerda is my new favorite and I love her thanks
> 
> haven't beta read this cause I like to use the same kind of quality control as the source material ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

"And when all the fairy creatures have entered the building, the doors will be barricaded from outside."

Gerda's lips was pulled up in a cold smile as she listened to her queen's instructions. Those monsters would be eradicated, all in one fell swoop, and she would be the one to do it.

The queen absentmindedly toyed with a small iron ball in her palm, looking down towards the small church from her balcony.

"It is then you strike." Queen Ingrith turned, her eyes glowing with determination.

Gerda met Ingrith's gaze with calm confidence. She had never let her queen down, and this time would be no different. "Of course, Your Majesty."

"You will play that organ until there is nothing but dust left of them," Queen Ingrith said with anger seeping into her voice. "They will all perish."

A moment passed as Gerda repeated the words in her head. It was still rather early in the morning; she had clearly misheard.

"I'm sorry, the organ?"

"Yes, the pipe organ inside the church. You're very talented with those, Gerda."

Gerda couldn't help but straighten a little from the praise, but she still felt like she was missing something. "I'm glad you think so, Your Majesty, but I'm not sure how that will help rid us of the fairy monsters. Does religious music hurt them as iron does?"

"Of course not." Whatever kindness had been tainting the queen's expression was gone in an instant. "The organ is filled with powder that will kill them in an instant. As soon as you press the right key, it will rain down upon them. And they will have nowhere to run." She chuckled softly.

"I see." She paused again, running through the plan in her mind over and over again. "So I press the key, and the room fills with lethal powder."

The queen looked personally offended. "Of _course_ not. You will play the music that I have chosen for you, and you will follow the notes to the letter." She took a step closer, looming over Gerda. "Under no circumstance will you press any other key if it isn't part of the musical piece. I hope I'm making myself perfectly clear."

"Of course."

A second rolled by, excruciatingly slowly.

"And as I'm sure you understand, each press of that key will only bring forth a small amount of powder, so it is of the utmost importance that you finish the entire piece." Somehow, the queen managed to loom even closer, now with a dangerous smile. "You are my most trusted adviser and servant, Gerda. I'm sure you know how important this mission is for _all_ of us."

Hearing the veiled threat and knowing full well just how capable the queen was of making good on it, Gerda merely nodded and excused herself. As odd as this plan was, she was sure the queen had a good reason for it. She always did plan several steps ahead, after all.

* * *

Heavy thumps echoed throughout the small church, giving Gerda the signal to start her little concert. The doors had been barred, the church was filled with vile creatures and monsters that had no place in this world, and in a little while, they would be erased, quickly and completely.

Gerda smiled as she ran her fingers across the keys of the pipe organ, a small and genuine smile for no one but herself. She had always loved playing the piano when little, and in some other life she might have been a proper musician. Still, there was something truly special about a church organ; the deep, rich sound seemed to spread into every part of her body, pulling her to another world. A beautiful, simple world with just her and the music and the feelings that seemed to spring to life inside with every note and sound.

The musical piece the queen had picked for here started strong, unsurprisingly. It built quickly in strength and emotion, and–

_Foomp_

Gerda winced from the sound, her finger flinching away from the key she had just pressed. It was only through sheer dedication to her work that she managed to continue the without an abrupt stop. She had no idea who had rigged the organ to shoot dangerous powder, and she had no urge to find out. The sound was more than enough. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the music, her fingers flowing across the–

_Fwump_

A soft curse slipped out through her lips as the next dump of powder was released. She couldn't fathom why they hadn't just made a fake ceiling and dropped the powder from there instead of bastardizing a perfectly good musical instrument.

_Whoosh_

_Fshhhh_

_Swump_

The more she played, the closer the shots came, destroying more and more of the music, and – Gerda could only assume – more and more of the fairies.

_Fwomp_

_Pwoosh_

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. Doing something like this to a beautiful musical piece that she knew as well as this one, and probably destroying the pipe organ in the process... she couldn't take it. She slammed the marked key a few more times – maybe it would continue to shoot even without her playing – and then buried her face in her palms. She thought she had been ready for anything, _anything_ for her queen, but this? This was a step too far.

After a few moments, she straightened and took a deep breath. Hopefully the queen wouldn't realize she had failed her. She pressed the marked key a few more times and then tried to figure out what to do. Although she couldn't see the rest of the church from here, she could hear it now that the music wasn't filling air anymore, and there was a lot to hear. Strange grunts and chirps, footsteps or hoofsteps, shouting and screaming. Clearly, they had not all perished.

Honestly, how a couple of handfuls of iron dust shot out of a church organ had been supposed to destroy the same creatures she had heard terrifying tales of ever since she was little was beyond her. A living tree, as tall as a house, could probably just rip the door apart or make a hole in the wall. Had they been surprised with a rain of deadly iron, all at once, perhaps, but this halfhearted attempt? Of course not. Now they had missed their chance and it was only a matter of time before the monsters managed to get up to Gerda and rip her apart.

She sat there for a little while and waited for the inevitable, but it never came. Grabbing her crossbow, Gerda made her way around the organ to a place where she could have perfect view of the inside.

The view was as baffling as it was chaotic. Somehow, no one had even gotten to the door, let alone up to her and the pipe organ. Several smaller creatures were huddled partially under the benches while others were running around and around in circles. One of the big tree monsters had been hit and was frozen in the middle of the room, while another one seemed to be stuck halfway through a far too small window. A strange frog-like creature managed to continuously trip over itself while several more by some miracle managed to tip a whole row of church benches on top of themselves. Another one of the big trees tried to force a hole in the wall, but it only resulted in parts of the ceiling falling down while the monster's fist got stuck between two stones.

Then a large, very strange bear barreled in through the door, only to rip down the doorway and seal the entrance behind it. The resulting pandemonium managed to bring down even more of the ceiling which – together with all the creatures and monsters that were already inside – finally made the floor collapse down into the basement.

With one defiant _foomp_, the pipe organ followed suit, crashing down through two floors to join the rest of the confusion in the basement.

Gerda tossed her crossbow aside and crawled out through a window in the back just as the whole building collapsed in on itself, and then promptly collapsed again down into the basement.

Staring at the crater in the ground that very recently had been a perfectly fine church, Gerda blinked in mute confusion, refusing to believe that this had been the queen's plan all along.

She was only vaguely aware of the fighting around her as she stumbled away. This was all too much. Far, far too much. She had no idea if the queen would be pleased or furious with the result and she had no desire to find out. Maybe they needed unscrupulous pianists in the neighboring kingdom.


End file.
